Irvine Pony Bronco’s 12-and-under squad battled back from a four-run deficit in the late innings to defeat St. Hewig’s 11-10, Thursday night in the sectional tournament at Mile Square Park.

The victory sends Irvine (3-0) into the championship on Sunday at 10 a.m.

“To be frank with you, I never doubted that we were going to come back and win this game,” said Irvine Coach Mike Filia. “These kids just don’t give up, this was one of the first close games we’ve had.”

Irvine trailed 10-9 going into the bottom of the seventh inning. Michael Pritchett led off with a single and L.J. Northington walked. Ryan McCray then laid down a perfect bunt to move the runners over.

Mikey Filia followed with a line double to right field to drive in two and win the game for Irvine.

Irvine got close in the sixth on a two-run home run by Jake Pries and an RBI single by Connor Rogers.

Irvine jumped ahead, 4-0 on Rogers’ grand slam in the first inning. But St. Hedwig’s moved ahead with five runs in the second inning, taking advantage of two errors and a wild pitch.

Rece Goodman, who came on in relief of McCray, who pitched three scoreless innings before St. Hedwig’s pushed across four runs in the sixth, got the victory.

Irvine’s opponent on Sunday will need to defeat undefeated Irvine twice, so the local squad is in excellent shape going into the final day.

“It could be Placentia B, St. Hedwig’s or the winner of Los Alamitos-Fountain Valley,” said Filia. “There are four teams fighting it out.”

Filia was pleased with his squad’s performance.

“Our kids responded, that’s just what they do, they responded so well, We had the game plan. McCray did a textbook bunt to get two guys over.

“I can’t ask for anything more than that. We cut Mikey loose knowing he could do it. It was a great win for the Irvine Bronco all-stars.”

Tim Burt first joined the Irvine World News in May of 1984 covering high school and youth sports in the city of Irvine. Since then, he has covered some of the most exciting high school sports events in Orange County. Tim's job includes reporting on sports in Irvine and Tustin and other communities for the Orange County Register and OC Varsity. He found his passion of journalism in high school at Long Beach Wilson on the school newspaper, the Loudspeaker. He later got his bachelor's degree in journalism from Long Beach State. Tim was honored in 2016 by the City of Irvine when he was named to the Wall of Recognition. In addition, the Pacific Coast League named the baseball championship trophy in his honor. In his off hours, Tim enjoys watching college and professional sports with friends and playing softball on the city of Irvine coed softball team, the Misprnts, founded by former Irvine World News editor Don Dennis. Tim has lived in Orange County for more than 30 years.